Struggling to fly after not being let out of the cage for 3 weeks.
Billy, my seven-year-old African Grey, was left at my mother’s house while I was away for three weeks. Although he was in the proper cage, he was not allowed to fly during this time. He climbed around the cage in circles when I got back, not stepping up right away. It seemed to me that he was a little uneasy or nervous about approaching me. His daily routine at home is that, unless I am at work, he spends the day outside of his cage. However, I took this to be a small mood he was in because I had left him. Billy is a mischievous and naughty bird that always flies to me when I have food. However, since I brought him home, I have noticed that he is having difficulty flying. He stretches his wings a lot but falls to the ground when he tries to fly. He seems a little reserved, but I can tell he is content to be home because he is being so affectionate. He is letting me check his wingspan (with a little attitude) and he has no issues with his climbing net above his cage. However, I am not sure what I am checking for, and normally he does not let me check without biting hard. I’m concerned that my bird may be ill or that it hasn’t been allowed to fly for a few weeks. I’m not sure if this is pertinent, but I’m concerned because three weeks before Billy arrived, my mother used to keep budgies in the same cage.
Billy should see an Avian Vet if you think he might be ill. He probably lost some muscle mass during the three weeks. Moreover, losing the ability to fly when accustomed to doing so may make him less self-assured. Indeed, he could contract diseases from budgies, but if the cage was well cleaned before he used it, everything should be alright. It’s likely that he’s still a little upset about you leaving him and that he can’t fly as high as he used to. Given that he is exercising his wings, he ought to soon regain his condition. However, once more, he needs to see a veterinarian if you have any reason to believe that he is ill.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda Have a question?
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When a bird loses its ability to fly, people wonder how it happened and what happened to it. The poor thing would go around, staring longingly at other birds, knowing that something is missing. It would want to follow in their footsteps, but it can’t recall how. In short, it would feel incomplete.
When we see someone on the streets in need, it moves us more than just coincidence. When we sacrifice ourselves so that we can make someone else happy, it’s not a coincidence. Even though everyone claims that there is no such thing as true love, it really isn’t a coincidence that we search for it. ” It is precisely love which tears us apart interiorly. But when we love, we experience great joy. These are the hearts’ desires: enduring imprints that, if followed, will lead to a meeting with the One who created them.
The depressing aspect of it all is realizing that man, God’s ideal creation, does, in fact, frequently decide not to fly. He hides it. He rejects it to the point that he forgets how. By his own choice, he annuls this ability. He surrenders his true self to appearances and gradually lets himself become blind.
This seems ridiculous, doesn’t it, since a bird will always remember how to fly. It is a part of it; its whole structure is designed to allow for flight. It cannot declare the week after, “I don’t want to fly.” “I don’t feel like it today,” as the unfortunate animal would subsequently perish. It would never survive in the world that surrounds it. Its ability to fly is actually a part of its existence; it will always have the inclination to do so, even if it has to do so in order to avoid larger animals.
Just as the bird will always have the desire to fly, so too are our desires constant. In a similar vein, whatever is in our hearts will come out, whether directly or indirectly. But in a materialistic world, our yearnings distorted. Chesterton once remarked, “Every man who knocks on a brothel’s door is looking for God.” The desire to love and be loved are the same, but we often take the wrong turn when we look for love on our own.
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